VanOrden Tops at U.S. Bank Tower Stair Climb

Tim VanOrden, 42 of Bennington, Vermont held off three of the top stair climbers in the world to win the U.S. Bank Tower Stair Climb in Los Angeles, California on Friday. This was VanOrden’s third victory in this event in the past four years. In 2008, VanOrden set a new course record, running up 75 stories and 1,500 stairs in a time of 9 minutes and 32 seconds. At this year’s race he was not far off that mark, bursting out onto the helipad in a time of 9:43. Along with the Empire State Building and the Willis (Sears) Tower races, this event is considered one of the “Big Three” climbs in the United States and attracts elite athletes from around the world. Nipping on VanOrden’s heels were; Javier Santiago from Mexico City, Mexico (Ranked #1 in the World) in 9:49, Jesse Berg from Chicago, Illinois (Ranked #4 in the World) in 9:58, Rolf Majsen from Vienna, Austria (Ranked #8 in the World) in 10:28, and Kevin Crossman from Snohomish, Washington in 10:31. VanOrden is currently ranked #9 in the World standings. Over 2,100 climbers took on the stairwell of this iconic tower and raised nearly $300,000 for the Ketchum Downtown YMCA.